Tough measures to stop Zesa equipment theft

POWER utility ZESA is making strides in reducing vandalism of its infrastructure that has previously cost it millions of dollars.

Copper harvesting and other measures have been introduced to thwart theft of its equipment.

This comes as two men from Chivhu, Ignitius Nyabonda and Trymore Mhondwa, both 25, were each sentenced to 20 years in jail last week for vandalism of ZESA property as authorities continue to enforce punitive measures against the crime.

Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company general manager for loss control Mr Festo Madembo said the authority has employed a number of interventions to curtail vandalism.

“Copper harvesting is one of the key strategies to remove such cables and replace them with alternatives that do not have appeal and a market for thieves and vandals.

“To that effect, the authority is left with about 543km of copper cables to be removed especially in the Western region that covers Matabeleland provinces.”

Mr Madembo said ZESA is working with members of the public and its subsidiaries to deal with the vandals.

“The authority has also planned to introduce the whistle-blower facility for information that can lead to the arrest of vandals. ZESA Holdings is working closely with its subsidiary company, Power Tel to install anti-intrusion alarm gadgets countrywide to curb theft and vandalism.

“We have a fully-flagged programme on this subject as we continue to forge strategies within the ZESA group to ensure the integrity of our business and systems to the best advantage of our value to the customers.”

In 2021, 288 incidents of the destruction of transformers and 444 cases of theft of copper conductors, both valued at over US$3, 7 million were recorded, with 85 people arrested for the crimes.